What the HTI measures

Based on the deals reported in major trade publications and news feeds, the HTI is a derivative index, which measures both:

The actual level of investment activity in the European Technology sector; and

The level of reporting (“the hype factor” – even though each transaction is only recorded once).

Since its inception in August 2002, the Headline Transactions Index has also proven a good early indicator of the actual level of private investments in Europe as reported by established industry surveys (e.g. VentureOne and Ernst & Young Quarterly Venture Capital Statistics).

Sources of Information

The Index tracks the deals reported the major trade publications and news feeds, including:

AltAssets’ Private Equity Newsletter (weekly)

Financial Times newspaper (daily)

Global Corporate Venturing ezine (weekly)

New Energy World Network (daily)

TechCrunch (daily)

The 451 Group (daily)

VentureSource News (daily)

VentureBeat (daily)

VentureWire (daily)

Geographical Coverage

The Headline Transactions Index covers all VC investments made in Europe by investors, regardless of their geography or investor status. Transactions therefore include investments made by non-European players and investors other than VCs.

Investment Stage Coverage

All stages are reported, from seed to pre-IPO investments, including expansion capital and growth equity transactions. Late stage deals (Series C and up) are also included, with the exception of Management Buyouts (MBO) / Management Buy-ins (MBI) (which tend to involve investments of a different order, c. EUR 50+ mn) and Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE) / Public to Private (P2P) transactions (which involve publicly-quoted companies).

Accounting for Transactions

Transactions are included in the month of the first announcement to appear in the news.

Amounts are reported in Euros. Any exchange rate conversions are done using the average value of the Euro against the reported currency in the month the transaction is first reported.

Where amounts are undisclosed, the transaction is included in the number of transactions but does not count towards the total size of investments, unless we are able to provide a reasonable reliable estimate. Average deal size is calculated by reference to the number of transactions where amounts are reported.